424 research outputs found
Asteroseismology of Massive Stars : Some Words of Caution
Although playing a key role in the understanding of the supernova phenomenon,
the evolution of massive stars still suffers from uncertainties in their
structure, even during their "quiet" main sequence phase and later on during
their subgiant and helium burning phases. What is the extent of the mixed
central region? In the local mixing length theory (LMLT) frame, are there
structural differences using Schwarzschild or Ledoux convection criterion?
Where are located the convective zone boundaries? Are there intermediate
convection zones during MS and post-MS phase, and what is their extent and
location? We discuss these points and show how asteroseismology could bring
some light on these questions.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, IAU Symposium 307, New windows on massive stars:
asteroseismology, interferometry, and spectropolarimetry, G. Meynet, C.
Georgy, J.H. Groh & Ph. Stee, ed
Electrical Noise From Phase Separation In Pr2/3Ca1/3MnO3 Single Crystal
Low frequency electrical noise measurements have been used to probe the
electronic state of the perovskite-type manganese oxide Pr2/3Ca1/3MnO3 versus
temperature and in the vicinity of the field-induced transition from the
insulating, charge-ordered state (I-CO) to the metallic, ferromagnetic state
(M-F). At high temperature we have observed a high level of the excess noise
with mainly a gaussian distribution of the resistance fluctuations, and the
associated power spectral density has a standard 1/f dependence. However, in
the hysteretic region, where the electrical resistance depends dramatically on
the sample history, we have observed a huge non-gaussian noise characterized by
two level fluctuator-like switching (TLS) in the time domain. We discuss the
origin of the noise in terms of percolative behavior of the conductivity. We
speculate that the dominant fluctuators are manganese clusters switching
between the M-F and the I-CO phases.Comment: RevTeX, 6 pages with 3 figure
Apsidal motion in the massive binary HD152218
Massive binary systems are important laboratories in which to probe the
properties of massive stars and stellar physics in general. In this context, we
analysed optical spectroscopy and photometry of the eccentric short-period
early-type binary HD 152218 in the young open cluster NGC 6231. We
reconstructed the spectra of the individual stars using a separating code. The
individual spectra were then compared with synthetic spectra obtained with the
CMFGEN model atmosphere code. We furthermore analysed the light curve of the
binary and used it to constrain the orbital inclination and to derive absolute
masses of 19.8 +/- 1.5 and 15.0 +/- 1.1 solar masses. Combining radial velocity
measurements from over 60 years, we show that the system displays apsidal
motion at a rate of (2.04^{+.23}_{-.24}) degree/year. Solving the
Clairaut-Radau equation, we used stellar evolution models, obtained with the
CLES code, to compute the internal structure constants and to evaluate the
theoretically predicted rate of apsidal motion as a function of stellar age and
primary mass. In this way, we determine an age of 5.8 +/- 0.6 Myr for HD
152218, which is towards the higher end of, but compatible with, the range of
ages of the massive star population of NGC 6231 as determined from isochrone
fitting.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic
Lattice and spin excitations in multiferroic h-YMnO3
We used Raman and terahertz spectroscopies to investigate lattice and
magnetic excitations and their cross-coupling in the hexagonal YMnO3
multiferroic. Two phonon modes are strongly affected by the magnetic order.
Magnon excitations have been identified thanks to comparison with neutron
measurements and spin wave calculations but no electromagnon has been observed.
In addition, we evidenced two additional Raman active peaks. We have compared
this observation with the anti-crossing between magnon and acoustic phonon
branches measured by neutron. These optical measurements underly the unusual
strong spin-phonon coupling
Unusual Ground State Properties of the Kondo-Lattice Compound Yb2Ir3Ge5
We report sample preparation, structure, electrical resistivity, magnetic
susceptibility and heat capacity studies of a new compound YbIrGe.
We find that this compound crystallizes in an orthorhombic structure with a
space group PMMN unlike the compound CeIrGe which crystallizes in
the tetragonal IBAM (UCoSi type) structure. Our resistivity
measurements indicate that the compound YbIrGe behaves like a
typical Kondo lattice system with no ordering down to 0.4 K. However, a
Curie-Weiss fit of the inverse magnetic susceptibility above 100 K gives an
effective moment of only 3.66 which is considerably less than the
theoretical value of 4.54 for magnetic Yb ions. The value of
= -15.19 K is also considerably higher indicating the presence of
strong hybridization. An upturn in the low temperature heat capacity gives an
indication that the system may order magnetically just below the lowest
temperature of our heat capacity measurements (0.4 K). The structure contains
two sites for Yb ions and the present investigation suggests that Yb may be
trivalent in one site while it may be significantly lower (close to divalent)
in the other.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures. submitted to Phys. Rev.
Magnetic Ordering and Superconductivity in the REIrGe (RE = Y, La-Tm, Lu) System
We find that the compounds for RE = Y, La-Dy, crystallize in the tetragonal
Ibam (UCoSi type) structure whereas the compounds for RE = Er-Lu,
crystallize in a new orthorhombic structure with a space group Pmmn. Samples of
HoIrGe were always found to be multiphase. The compounds for RE = Y
to Dy which adopt the Ibam type structure show a metallic resistivity whereas
the compounds with RE = Er, Tm and Lu show an anomalous behavior in the
resistivity with a semiconducting increase in as we go down in
temperature from 300K. Interestingly we had earlier found a positive
temperature coefficient of resistivity for the Yb sample in the same
temperature range. We will compare this behavior with similar observations in
the compounds RERuGe and REBiPt. LaIrGe and
YIrGe show bulk superconductivity below 1.8K and 2.5K respectively.
Our results confirm that CeIrGe shows a Kondo lattice behavior and
undergoes antiferromagnetic ordering below 8.5K. Most of the other compounds
containing magnetic rare-earth elements undergo a single antiferromagnetic
transition at low temperatures (T12K) while GdIrGe,
DyIrGe and NdIrGe show multiple transitions. The
T's for most of the compounds roughly scale with the de Gennes factor.
which suggests that the chief mechanism of interaction leading to the magnetic
ordering of the magnetic moments may be the RKKY interaction.Comment: 25 pages, 16 figure
The IACOB project. IV. New predictions for high-degree non-radial mode instability domains in massive stars and their connection with macroturbulent broadening
Context. Asteroseismology is a powerful tool to access the internal structure of stars. Apart from the important impact of theoretical developments, progress in this field has been commonly associated with the analysis of time-resolved observations. Recently, the so-called macroturbulent broadening has been proposed as a complementary and less expensive way - in terms of observational time - to investigate pulsations in massive stars. Aims: We assess to what extent this ubiquitous non-rotational broadening component which shapes the line profiles of O stars and B supergiants is a spectroscopic signature of pulsation modes driven by a heat mechanism. Methods: We compute stellar main-sequence and post-main-sequence models from 3 to 70 M[SUB]⊙[/SUB] with the ATON stellar evolution code, and determine the instability domains for heat-driven modes for degrees ℓ = 1-20 using the adiabatic and non-adiabatic codes LOSC and MAD. We use the observational material compiled in the framework of the IACOB project to investigate possible correlations between the single snapshot line-broadening properties of a sample of ≈260 O and B-type stars and their location inside or outside the various predicted instability domains. Results: We present an homogeneous prediction for the non-radial instability domains of massive stars for degree ℓ up to 20. We provide a global picture of what to expect from an observational point of view in terms of the frequency range of excited modes, and we investigate the behavior of the instabilities with respect to stellar evolution and the degree of the mode. Furthermore, our pulsational stability analysis, once compared to the empirical results, indicates that stellar oscillations originated by a heat mechanism cannot explain alone the occurrence of the large non-rotational line-broadening component commonly detected in the O star and B supergiant domain. Based on observations made with the Nordic Optical Telescope, operated by NOTSA, and the Mercator Telescope, operated by the Flemish Community, both at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos (La Palma, Spain) of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
Magnetic properties of pure and Gd doped EuO probed by NMR
An Eu NMR study in the ferromagnetic phase of pure and Gd doped EuO was
performed. A complete description of the NMR lineshape of pure EuO allowed for
the influence of doping EuO with Gd impurities to be highlighted. The presence
of a temperature dependent static magnetic inhomogeneity in Gd doped EuO was
demonstrated by studying the temperature dependence of the lineshapes. The
results suggest that the inhomogeneity in 0.6% Gd doped EuO is linked to
colossal magnetoresistance. The measurement of the spin-lattice relaxation
times as a function of temperature led to the determination of the value of the
exchange integral J as a function of Gd doping. It was found that J is
temperature independent and spatially homogeneous for all the samples and that
its value increases abruptly with increasing Gd doping.Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures, to be published in Physical Review
Quaternary borocarbides: New class of intermetallic superconductors
Our recent discovery of superconductivity (SC) in the four-element multiphase Y-Ni-B-C system at an elevated temperature (TC approximately 12 K) has opened up great possibilities of identifying new superconducting materials and generating new physics. Superconductivity with Tc (greater than 20 K) higher than that known so far in bulk intermetallics has been observed in multiphase Y-Pd-B-C and Th-Pd-B-C systems and a family of single phase materials RENi2B2C (RE= Y, rare earth) have been found. Our investigations show YNi2B2C to be a strong coupling hard type-II SC. HC2(T) exhibits an unconventional temperature dependence. Specific heat and magnetization studies reveal coexistence of SC and magnetism in RNi2B2C (R = Ho, Er, Tm) with magnetic ordering temperatures (Tc approximately 8 K, 10.5 K, 11 K and Tm approximately 5 K, approximately 7K, approximately 4 K respectively) that are remarkably higher than those in known magnetic superconductors . Mu-SR studies suggest the possibility of Ni atoms carrying a moment in TmNi2B2C. Resistivity results suggests a double re-entrant transition (SC-normal-SC) in HoNi2B2C. RENi2B2C (RE = Ce, Nd, Gd) do not show SC down to 4.2 K. The Nd- and Gd-compounds order magnetically at approximately 4.5 K and approximately 19.5 K, respectively. Two SC transitions are observed in Y-Pd-B-C (Tc approximately 22 K, approximately 10 K) and in Th-Pd-B-C (Tc approximately 20 K, approximately 14 K) systems, which indicate that there are at least two structures which support SC in these borocarbides. In our multiphase ThNi2B2C we observe SC at approximately 6 K. No SC was seen in multiphase UNi2B2C, UPd2B2C, UOs2Ge2C and UPd5B3C(0.35) down to 4.2 K. Tc in YNi2B2C is depressed by substitutions (Gd, Th and U at Y-sites and Fe, Co at Ni-sites)
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